Max and Chloe relationship debate

[Junuh]

So, after beating LiS one of the biggest questions on my mind is, are they lesbians or not? While this may seem unimportant to some, it is to me. For some personal reasons I cannot even understand myself, I want it to be true that Max and Chloe are just really good friends.

I think something else to consider is that depending on your decisions the "level" (for lack of a better word) of their relationship changes. For instance, if you were to make more "passionate" decisions towards warren, choose to kiss or not kiss Chloe, choose to sacrifice Chloe (in which you do kiss her), etc.

But even in the most extreme circumstances where you make the more "romantic" decisions towards Chloe (specifically referring to the first kiss decision), it seems Chloe isn't all in and isn't into it that much.

I think generally, Chloe and Max are just really good friends . However, if you make different decisions, I feel you can change that.

What do you guys think? Lesbians or friends?

Update.

Seems general consensus is that their relationship "intensity" is up to the player and his/her decisions. Which is exactly what I said. Lol, answered my own dumb question. Thread is a little redundant then, my apologies.

[Day Walker]

Depends on your choices as simple as that

[Sanguine]

I think Ph can answer your Questions lel.

[Lawlavch33]

same: "Depends on your choices as simple as that".

But when you straight out said sth like "I want it to be true"... are we supposed to convince you to change your mind? or you just want to get some support to justify your opinion into a fact?

OK then; whether Max had romantic feelings for Chloe depends on your CHOICE (read the last 3 pages of her journal, btw); whether Chloe had romantic feelings for Max depends on your own INTERPRETATION, based on many subtle details.

It could be a two-way romantic interest, it could also be an unequal romantic interest, all based on what you feel. But please do remember that even in such circumstances, Max's romantic feelings for Chloe is fixed (if Max kissed Chloe), and your own interpretation from Chloe's side won't change if Max is lesbian or not.

So yeah, "if you make different decisions, I feel you can change that." you just said what you need to know... so I dont know why you want to make this post when you already know the answer...

And btw I dont get it. Lesbians or not and romantic or not is like icing on the cake; their powerful friendship is the base and bedrock and it won't change because of those.

Aaaaaaand btw kissing Chloe is not "in the most extreme circumstances". its 1/2(or 78%/22%).

[talemore]

One of the devs was asked if Max is bisexual and the answer was, it's up to the player because Max was designed to be passively.
After playing the game, I can't make any conclusion than Max is lesbian. Warren was meant to be giving Max a kiss on the cheek at the parking lot, this however was removed because in US physical interactions of any type is a confirmation of the sexual orientation, so who gets most physical contact is the one who wins this debate and Warren was disqualified, Chloe wins.

Warren is either raped by his comrades or writes like a girl and during the game Warren doesn't show any interest of Max. He most of the time places himself next to Max and makes pictures of himself with her, but the relation is like the relation between Nathan prescott and Victoria chase. At best them are best friends with previledges, we all know Nathan still haven't passed his love for Rachel and the memory of her death has burned into his skull.

[Species1571]

Choosing to sacrifice Chloe doesn't necessarily result in the kiss, even that comes from choices. Their "level" of relationship doesn't really bother me, but I am glad it isn't made too much a thing of in the story. I do think the stronger their relationship is, the more believable the story.

[MorningLightMountain]

Originally posted by talemore:

After playing the game, I can't make any conclusion than Max is lesbian. Warren was meant to be giving Max a kiss on the cheek at the parking lot, this however was removed because in US physical interactions of any type is a confirmation of the sexual orientation, so who gets most physical contact is the one who wins this debate and Warren was disqualified, Chloe wins.

When was it stated they changed that scene?

Originally posted by talemore:

Warren is either raped by his comrades or writes like a girl and during the game Warren doesn't show any interest of Max. He most of the time places himself next to Max and makes pictures of himself with her, but the relation is like the relation between Nathan prescott and Victoria chase. At best them are best friends with previledges, we all know Nathan still haven't passed his love for Rachel and the memory of her death has burned into his skull.

Warren shows interest in Max throughout the game which is why Chloe makes a certain comment about him in episode four, which Max acknowledges. There's also nothing in the gsme which suggests that kind of relationship between Nathan & Victoria.

[vladimirhandl]

When was it stated they changed that scene?

In directors commentary.

As for the question by the OP - this really up to and every other player - want Max to be straight and noly friend of Chloe - your decision, want them to be in love - your decision. Want any other interpretation of deepness of ther friendship - your decision.
I thing that this was great step from devs, that every player can decide what their Max feels for Chloe and Chloe for Max.

[Sommertristesse]

Originally posted by talemore:

Warren was meant to be giving Max a kiss on the cheek at the parking lot, this however was removed because in US physical interactions of any type is a confirmation of the sexual orientation, so who gets most physical contact is the one who wins this debate and Warren was disqualified, Chloe wins.

I'm not quite sure that this is the exact reason the developers gave. Dontnod is a french studio and in France it is quite common for the boy to give the girl a quick peck on the cheek as a form of greeting without romance or sex playing a role in it, but since this isn't a common form of greeting in the US they removed it to avoid confusion. (It's brought up in the dev's commentary, I'm not quite sure in which one exactly though.)

On the original topic: The essence has been stated here already multiple times - it depends on the decisions you take and, probably even more important, on how you interpret certain things. It's made clear that Warren is crushing on Max and there certainly is affection between Max and Chloe. Everything from there on out is your decision. If you want Max and Chloe to 'just' be best friends than that is completely okay. If, however, you're looking for definite confirmation that there isn't more to it, you will be disappointed. A lot of these things are intentionally left open to interpretation and in my opinion, this is one of the things that really make this game great. It truly is your journey and your personal experience.

[talemore]

You can always play the last episode and the golden path will tell what the devs want or didn't wanted to happen.

[Brewski]

As outlined by others here, the exact nature of their relationship at the end of the game is determined by your choices, and can be determined by looking at Max's journal at the beginning of the final scene.

For me personally, the first time through they did fall in love through the game without conscious effort on my part. So for me, that is the "canon" path. Others feel differently, but that's the point of a game where choices matter. :)

For those who aren't aware of exactly how this is determined:

For Max and Chloe to fall in love, you must make three of the following four decisions in Chloe's favor:
1) Take the blame for the pot in episode 1.
2) Do not answer Kate's phone call in episode 2.
3) Choose to try and shoot Frank in episode 2. (Even though there are no bullets.)
4) Side with Chloe over David in episode 3.

If you do at least three of the above, and kiss Chloe when she challenges you to do so in episode 3, Chloe and Max will fall in love before the end of the game, and Max will write about it in her journal. If you do not kiss Chloe, or only side with Chloe in 2 or less of the above decisions, they will instead be "like sisters" and friends forever instead.

Note: Your relationship with Warren is handled separately, and does not directly affect Chloe in any way. (Although it does affect some dialog options.)

[Jeckenn]

Personally I think they are young girls who grew up together and LOVE each other like sibblings, AND that could lead to a same sex partnership because of the life changing events they BOTH experienced while growing up....simple as that.

[Shooter-90]

Originally posted by Holedigger999:

What do you guys think? Lesbians or friends?

You opened a pandora's box on human sexuality and for anyone who's underage, this is going to be major spoilers. Also please be open minded about this topic since it does go for and against everything some people may prefer. Here it goes.

In interpersonal relationships, there are a lot of differentiations and variations based on a person's preference for attraction of the same and opposite gender. This is the inclusion to transgendered and queer people. In general, people like to have friendships and romantic relationships in some degree. Both do count as relationships but the social implication of a "relationship" is you had intimate relationships in terms of sex.

However if we get into sexuality, we get into talking a person's attraction to other people. In high school I learned the basis of human sexuality to identify as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. These are to contextualize a binary system and it's combinations though we don't necessary are confined in a binary system which transgender and transexuality addresses.

So what makes of Chloe and Max?
In the game there is a lot of mention of their past relationships with little to no specific indication aside from their friendship which can count as an estranged relationship.

Based on the dialogue from episodes 1-5 including all choices. Chloe finds Mark Jefferson attractive but at the same time she shows affection for Max for being a friend to the point where they can kiss. At the same time she had a close attraction for Rachel to try and find her. Meanwhile Max shows she had past experiences but nothing stuck to her aside for her fondness for Chloe. Just on this, we can say the following:
-Chloe is bisexual since she finds Rachel and Max something worth holding onto, we can also disagree and say she's seeking a romantic pursuit. Which we can say she could be a mono-romantic since her two relationships are with two females which she also identifies as that gender.
-Max had at least one relationship which hasn't been mentioned on who she was with, male or female. If it was a male she could be a bi-romantic but based on the stuff she has in her room comparatively to Dana would not reflect that. However the only proof is the dialogue where she just says she was dating someone in Seattle before coming here. In terms of her sexual preference, we can't necessarily conclude this because she never mentioned if she has sex with either gender or anyone else. At the end of the game, we can see Max and Chloe do share a close bond likely because she's been reunited with her closest friend. Does this mean she's bisexual or even homosexual? Nope since we don't see any sexual attraction from Max to indicate.

So what have we learned from this epic long post? Chloe might romantically be into girls and Max might be curious or even trying to figure it out herself. Based on their relationship together, we can conclude they are close friends however a romantic pursuit may be inconclusive since the story lasts about a week with a lot going for Max.

TL;DR version below:
Each person is different and can't be necessarily labelled. Also not nice to call people out on something which they may clearly not be. Educate yourself before you start pointing fingers.

[BuckyDidNothingWrong]

Kissing your best friend is not really seen as gay and since Chloe and Max only do this twice, (depending on how you choose) I only see it as them being friends. The kisses and any other kinds of powerful exchanges inbetween do signify love and passion, just not in the romantic way.

Even so, my opinion is entirely subjective so Chloe and Max could both be questioning/queer or bi or pan or lesbians. The game makes it so it's entirely open for interpretation. Any of the other characters could not be entirely straight as well (even the jocks and Nathan lol)

There are several scenes that could seperately support that Chloe is not straight:
The way she talks about Rachel Amber
How upset she gets when she finds out about Rachel and Frank
Daring Max to kiss her in the first place
How she doesn't really mention liking guys at all

Bottom line, I personally, like Max and Chloe as best friends rather than lovers. Partially because I think Max belongs with Warren, but also because it just feels wrong in the sense of what they've been through and just in my own head. All of this aside, I do support anyone that likes Max and Chloe together and who make fanart and fanfiction and all that ♥♥♥♥ because I'm a sucker for anything gay :P

[talemore]

We don't have to speculate if chloe is bisexual, she actually tells Max she used to date boys and like said above she think Jeff is attractive and she has condoms just in case.

Max on the other hand do seem to be passive about her sexuality, it can be the case she's A-sexual and we'll never know what exactly she is because she's like Tarzan swinging in every direction. For a videogame character pan-sexuality can work, in reality an individual is questioned for loving animals in the same passion of loving a human being. In life is strange people's spirits are animals and if chloe is a blue butterfly and Max loves chloe then she's in love with an animal spirit. This passive acting breaks when chloe challenge's Max and even if there was something going on with Warren we never see them go ape!. What we can tell is all romantic scenes with Warren were either cut out because of lack of time or because that's how them wanted the story to be.

[BuckyDidNothingWrong]

Originally posted by talemore:

We don't have to speculate if chloe is bisexual, she actually tells Max she used to date boys and like said above she think Jeff is attractive and she has condoms just in case.

Max on the other hand do seem to be passive about her sexuality, it can be the case she's A-sexual and we'll never know what exactly she is because she's like Tarzan swinging in every direction. For a videogame character pan-sexuality can work, in reality an individual is questioned for loving animals in the same passion of loving a human being. In life is strange people's spirits are animals and if chloe is a blue butterfly and Max loves chloe then she's in love with an animal spirit. This passive acting breaks when chloe challenge's Max and even if there was something going on with Warren we never see them go ape!. What we can tell is all romantic scenes with Warren were either cut out because of lack of time or because that's how them wanted the story to be.

You're right I forgot about Chloe mentioning the condoms bit and how she used to date guys (she also seems interrested in Justin as well, now that I think about it). She also could be just not afraid to do whatever she wants, like kiss girls and whatnot. That doesn't label her. She could be into both genders or anything inbetween. I agree with you on the fact that Max could be anything and the game makers probably would label her as pansexual if prompted to. I think they cut out any romantic scenes with Warren because if the game makers added anything like that, then it would kind of set things in stone for people's sexuality and I like that they left everything open ended.